


the customer's always right

by taemints



Category: B.A.P, K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Attempt at Humor, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, POV Third Person Limited, daejae - Freeform, youngjae and zelo are cousins, youngjae is just trying to do his job
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-19 04:25:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14229228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taemints/pseuds/taemints
Summary: " whoever said the customer's always right, " youngjae grumbled, " has obviously never met the customer. "-an au in which youngjae and zelo work for the family restaurant. zelo is the bartender, and youngjae is a waiter. and the host. and the manager. youngjae doesn't mind the extra work, though. it keeps his mind preoccupied. what he does mind, however, are the abundance of students from the college across the street who try to flirt with him.





	the customer's always right

it wasn't a particular type of day. meaning, it wasn't a sort of happy day or frustrated day. it was just normal, he supposed.

yoo youngjae stood at his host podium in front of the restaurant, eyeing the map of the restaurant. in dry erase marker, taken and open seats were marked for convenience, and a list of waiting customer names took up the bottom left corner of the map. youngjae furrowed his eyebrows as he rubbed away at a stray mark. he looked towards the clock to his right, adorned onto the arch that lead to the seating area of the restaurant. it was about twelve-thirty noon, right about when the late morning classes at the college across the street let out. the young man sighed as he straightened himself, readying for the influx of young students to their small restaurant.

over the couple years he had been an employee at his aunt's restaurant, youngjae had held a lot of positions. one: he was the host. he helped people find their seats, and marked who sat where and what seats were open. two: he was a waiter. well, he was more of a backup; whenever rookies failed to show up at their shifts, youngjae's experience with serving multiple sections of the restaurant at once was sorely needed. three: he was the manager. somebody responsible had to take care of the place while the owners were in the back cooking up a storm. 

it wasn't that youngjae had a distaste for the influx of work that fell on his shoulders with the restaurant. it kept things exciting. he was always doing something; never was there a time where he was standing idly for an extended period of time. it was a good thing, in his mind. it kept his mind sharp, and didn't give him time to think of sarcastic retorts like he would if he was confined to only one position. besides, the pay was better, considering the many jobs he held. 

the first of many students filed into the restaurant, and youngjae got to working. he seated and served drinks to many, his limbs going on auto-pilot as he lead people not much younger than him to their seats, and his voice reciting automated phrases like "can i get a name for the party" and "your waiter will be with you shortly". it wasn't a particular type of day. it was just a busy one.

' of course a server calls in sick on a busy day, ' youngjae thought as he found himself at the bar again, where his cousin, junhong, worked, grabbing some drinks for customers. junhong was a good worker; he had a knack for mixing drinks and engaging in small talk with the bar's patrons, and youngjae somehow knew that many regulars at the bar were significantly easier to please when junhong was shining his handsome face around. there was a reason, though, that he was only a bartender, and not a strange waiter-host-manager hybrid.

" so, " junhong started as he filled a cup with club soda. " have you seen him around yet? "

" we get so many 'him's in a day; you're going to need to specify, " youngjae replied as he set yet another drink on his serving tray.

" the one from the college, " junhong replied. youngjae arched one eyebrow, and junhong sighed before elaborating. " the really loud one. the one who tried to give you his number last time. "

youngjae then knew exactly who junhong was talking about, and made it visible by groaning as he took another finished drink from junhong. " no, not yet, thank _God_ , " he said, shaking his head.

of course there were regulars are the restaurant, and youngjae was on good terms with many of them. there were a few, however, that youngjae just couldn't help but dread, no matter how hard he tried. among those were the bargainers, who always tried to claim a discount with the excuse of "oh, your aunt and i went to high school together"; the family with three screaming triplets, who never seemed to think of disciplining their children as they bounced around the aisles; and those who tried to flirt with either himself or junhong. unfortunately, the person of interest fell in the last category. ever since youngjae started working there at the ripe, young age of 18, he had been the target of not-so-subtle flirting by an individual not far apart from him in age.

" well, " junhong started as he nodded towards the entrance to the restaurant.

youngjae looked over and groaned again. speak of the devil. he looked over to his cousin as he set down the tray of drinks.

" could you bring these over to table 5? i need to cater to the bachelor over there, " youngjae said, distaste dripping from his speech.

junhong nodded, and youngjae turned and went back to his host podium. he smiled (or, rather, clenched his teeth and tried to play it off as an amicable grin) at the man in front of him and his party, and started reciting the routine words which had been ingrained into his mind by this point.

" hello, " youngjae said tensely. " how are you? "

" well, better, now, " the other man said with a grin. youngjae felt like he wanted to vomit. " yourself? "

" peachy, " youngjae forced out. he felt the migraine coming, and it hadn't been even five minutes. " the number of people in your party and your name? "

" party for four, and, uh, daehyun, " the other man said. there was an pause as youngjae wrote down the information before he spoke again. " sir, what's the weather for outside seating like? "

youngjae stared at him for a beat in disbelief. " you came in...from the outside, " he said, scorn seeping its way into the vessels of his tone as he spoke slowly, as if the man before him was not a man, but a child.

if his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, the daehyun figure before him blushed, as if startled by the sudden animosity. " oh- yeah, " he stammered. " also, i- i know it's the rush hour, but we're on a tight schedule, can we be seated immediately? "

youngjae breathed out quite heavily through his nose. at least he wasn't flirting.

" done and done, let me pull a table out of my ass, " youngjae mumbled as he scribbled down 'daehyun' into the margins of the whiteboard map, underneath 'pending customers'. he looked back up at daehyun. " it'll be a five minute wait. we need to set the table. "

daehyun smiled a bit awkwardly at him, and youngjae actually wanted to die at that moment. damn it, it was so hard to be mad at him with a smile like that! if he could've just reverted to his old, fuckboy self, that would've been _amazing_. it would've been so much easier to be mad at him then, youngjae thought. nevertheless, his internal prayers went unnoticed as he was dragged back into the body of the restaurant, serving up drinks and taking orders once again.

 

" alright, so what can i get for you four to drink today? " youngjae asked as he looked down at the seated party of four, under 'daehyun'.

there was a rather brief silence as the men at the table looked at the back of the menu for the list of drinks offered. daehyun was the first to speak. " do you have water? " he asked.

youngjae was about to have a brain aneurysm. he breathed harshly out of his nostrils again, trying to keep his sarcasm to a minimum. he collected himself briefly before speaking again.

" no, sir, " youngjae replied. " we wash our hands and dishes with lemonade. "

so much for not being sarcastic. 

the three other men sitting around him chuckled a bit as daehyun's face flushed with a red tint, and youngjae almost felt proud. if all he needed to humble the resident fuckboy were a few choice words of disdain and a tone dripping with sarcasm, then his problems were as good as solved. 

after a bit, the entire table reached a consensus of waters all around, and youngjae found himself back at the drinks bar, grabbing some waters for his table. of course, a visit to the bar was not complete without an brief rant about the stupidity of customers from youngjae to junhong. the older cousin leaned over the counter as junhong filled some glasses with water from the purifier machine as the rambling commenced.

" so then he asks me, 'do you have water', " youngjae recalled in disbelief. " like, what kind of question is that! "

" maybe he's just trying to get to talk to you more? " junhong suggested as he filled the last glass of water. youngjae watched him set it down on his server tray, but paid no mind to it as his brain struggled to digest those words.

" no, " youngjae said. " no, absolutely not. he's just a fuckboy. that's it. "

" well, you know, " junhong said with a shrug. " you know everybody in the family is waiting for you to bring somebody home. you're getting old, youngjae. you should start working on it. "

" one: i'm not old, " youngjae protested. " two: i would not bring this daehyun guy under our roof to save my life. three: he doesn't even remotely like me. "

junhong shrugged again, and youngjae was starting to get very annoyed at his opinionated indifference. " he's red half the time, trying to talk to you, and still coming to this hole-in-the-wall in the first place? it seems like he likes you, and you know what they say. the customer's always right. "

" whoever said the customer's always right, " youngjae grumbled as he took the tray of drinks, " has obviously never met the customer. "

 

the lunch rush hour had ended, and youngjae was wiping down tables as the people around him started to leave. the young man furrowed his eyebrows as he worked, curling and extending his arm as he wiped down the table in a circular motion. he heard multiple requests for the bill, and even more people shuffling away and scooting in their chairs. he stood up and stretched his back a bit before yawning. it had certainly been one of the busier rush hours today, and he was looking forward to ending his shift to go on his own lunch break. however, before he could even put the towel back on the rack of the cleaning cart, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

" hey, uh, do you have a minute? "

youngjae turned around to be face-to-face with the daehyun figure that he had completely roasted just about an hour earlier. he blinked in confusion; most, if not all customers didn't stick around to talk to the waiter. he straightened himself and leaned on the table he was just cleaning, putting a hand on his hip as he arched an eyebrow.

" can i help you? " youngjae asked.

" i, uhm, Jesus, " daehyun stammered. he looked down at his feet and twiddled with his thumbs before quickly looking back up. " i'm- i'm sorry for...y'know, being so rude in the past. "

youngjae blinked. he certainly did not expect that from a customer he knew only by some brief exchanges and eye rolls. the waiter shifted a bit, clearly not prepared for the situation. " yeah, it's no problem, i guess, " he responded. a brief silence came upon them. " is that it? "

" you know, i keep coming back to this restaurant to see you, and i never really got around to asking it, but... " daehyun trailed off, and youngjae could feel his heart pounding against his rib cage. no. there was no way junhong was right about this. " i talked to the bartender over there. he said you like anime? "

" i mean, yeah, " youngjae responded. he made a mental note to murder junhong and leave the body in a ditch later. " who doesn't? "

" right- of course, " daehyun stammered. youngjae almost found it endearing. " so, i just wanted to ask you if you maybe wanted to go to that anime store that just opened down the street sometime. just the two of us. "

youngjae stared at him for a bit as he felt his cheeks get warm. this was happening. daehyun, the butt of all the fuckboy jokes he and junhong made, was being genuine, and asking him out. wasn't this a thing that only happened in movies, youngjae thought, that the debonair customer flirted with the waiter, and it actually worked? at the moment, he felt like the protagonist of a rom com. his mouth suddenly went dry, and the sarcastic response part of his brain had completely shut down. he shifted again in his position before clearing his throat.

" yeah. yeah, i would like that, " youngjae responded genuinely.

daehyun's face lit up, and youngjae felt the lift in emotions within himself also. he watched as daehyun fished for his phone within his pockets. daehyun offered him the phone, already opened to the screen where a new contact would be made. this little shit planned this out, youngjae thought, amused.

" your number? just so that i can call you, and, uh, coordinate when to pick you up. and stuff, " daehyun explained.

" this is much better than leaving me your number on the back of a receipt with a 2,100 won tip on a 75,000 won bill, " youngjae replied with a small chuckle as he entered in his contact information.

" i'm a broke college student too, you know, " daehyun defended. 

youngjae smiled a bit in an attempt to stifle a laugh, and he could see daehyun's face go soft and red. he handed him back his phone, not breaking eye contact. " i'll see you then, " youngjae said.

daehyun shyly smiled back as he took back his phone and stuffed it in his back pocket. " yeah, " he replied. " i'll see you then, too. "

youngjae watched daehyun exit the restaurant with a soft look in his eyes. he let out a sigh and a smile, shaking his head as he wheeled the cleaning cart to another table. out of the corner of his eye, though, he could've sworn he saw junhong stuff his phone quickly into his bartender's apron.

oh, now he was certainly going to end up in a ditch.


End file.
